


Daybreak

by blueberryfortunes (blueberryfxrtunes)



Category: Hannibal (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abigail Hobbs deserved better, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Being a girl changes perspectives, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Dark, Death is a friend, F/F, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Gen, Hannibal Lecter is a Cannibal, Hannibal Lecter is the Chesapeake Ripper, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Master of Death (Harry Potter), Multi, Murder, Murder Wives, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Rule 63, Shapeshifting, Slow To Update, Thriller, emotionally stunted author writes emotional characters, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:27:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26193397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueberryfxrtunes/pseuds/blueberryfortunes
Summary: It wasn't like Harri had meant to steal away hergirlfriendbest friend away from a controlling cannibal and thwart his plans in the process. But that was exactly what she did.(Plus, it wasn't exactly stealing when Abigail went with Harri willingly.)
Relationships: Abigail Hobbs & Hannibal Lecter, Harry Potter/Abigail Hobbs, Will Graham & Abigail Hobbs, Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham & Harry Potter
Comments: 45
Kudos: 119





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here in the forest, so dark and deep, I offer you eternal sleep  
> -  
> Harri needs sleep. Lots and lots of sleep but rather than being able to get it, she finds something else instead

-

She limped over the forest floor.

The extensive damage left behind from the fight was still freshly engraved in the loose soil. Several uprooted trees made it difficult to trek through the area. But she managed to stumble deeper in the forest past the unpleasant path. In the corner of her eye, she scarcely noticed a few discolored patches on the dark ground.

_Blood spots_ , she pointed out lamely.

It was quite odd. She knew she should have instantly felt something, if not anything at the poignant reminder that people had died. But all she had noted at the moment she was passing those spots, was a familiar numbness. It didn’t feel so harmful to her, but Harri reflected on what it would say about her mental health. The thought agitated her more than she’d have liked. Blatantly ignoring the new thought developed in her mind, Harri focused on the surroundings.

Unlike when the battle was had been going on, there’s some noise within the forest floor. The most prominent sound is the chittering sound of critters. However, underlining the high-pitched sound, came a very faint clopping sound. With some sort of clarity, Harri realized it wasn’t that of the centaurs but of other creatures that had fled the woodland.

The sunlight that had fallen over the forest was completely ordinary. It felt as though it was mocking her. Nothing within the past 48 hours had been ordinary.

With a tired breath, she took in the shattered trees around her.

Was this to represent her new reality? To deal with death constantly in the future? For it not requiring a memorable day to torment her?

Grim thoughts brewing in her mind, Harri pulled up to a stop in front of the clearing where Voldemort had murdered her.

She has a wanting to stand in the middle of it and reconstruct the feeling of the green, vivid flash colliding with her body; the nothingness of it. But she won’t, can’t. Because it would give Voldemort more power over her, even if he was no longer alive.

Her sneakers crunch over the leaves to where she had dropped the resurrection stone. She merely wants to collect the Deathly Hallows, so she can make sure no one can wield them again. She has already plotted it out in her mind. She gently sat on her knees and ruffled through the mess on the floor.

Her plan, albeit a simple one, is one she has believed would work. First, she’d collect all three items – the wand, the cloak, and the stone. Next, she’d take them back with her to someplace safe. From that secure place, she’d simply toss them into a fire. Once they were nothing but ashes, she’d expel them out in the trash. (She wouldn’t spread them out in the wind nor scatter them somewhere.)

Harri has no desire in anything about it being symbolic. For some blasted reason, everything held symbolism in the wizarding world. It could be an act or a simple verbal response that messed with Fate and Destiny. Therefore emitting them out the trash wouldn’t bring about the symbolism in her getting her hands clean of the Hallows.

Suffering the stinging pain in her fingers, she dug them around the moist with a tired shake of her head. The faster she got this done, the faster she’d go home.

But just like always, her Potter luck strikes; something that could go wrong does go wrong.

The moment her fingers closed around the stone, her body tipped forward and she knew no more.

-

The white walls of King Cross Station greeted her once more.

For the first time since the morning, her body hummed with emotion.

_No! No! No_ , she cried to herself. Death wasn’t kind enough to take her soul away _. I don’t want to be here! I want to be back in the forest! Let me go!_

“You came,” a deep voice greeted her back. Turning around slowly, Harri took in the figure standing there in front of her. The striking feature of her own eyes staring at her was enough to quench the demand to return. Not only did the body wear her eyes, but it also contained all of her characteristic features. Though, the only difference was the body was male.

Her eyes took in the clean jumper and the pajama bottoms before she huffed in rage. Words seem to allude her and her gaze jumped back into the eyes of Death (who else would give such an uncaring blasé attitude to greet her).

“No,” her voice doesn’t tremble, but a heavy grittiness comes out. She cursed at herself because her voice wasn’t as loud as she tried it to be.

“Mistress–.”

“Not your Mistress,” she breathed out. _It can’t be_.

“I knew you would come,” the entity continued over her. He possessed a joyous look. Adoration and sincere admiration practically poured off him in rivers.

Harri felt the rage build up inside and she wished she could wrap her fingers around his (its) neck and throttle the being.

“I am not your Mistress,” she hissed out, punctuating every word viscously. “I don’t want the Hallows. And I’m not taking them!”

The being stumbled backward as though Harri’s words harmed him/it.

“But - you came? You took the Hallows and went deep in the Forest,” a wounded look slipped on Death’s face. It almost made her feel bad for snapping at the being so rudely.

_Of-fucking-course there’s symbolism with me going into the forest. What’s that quote again? Here in the forest, so dark and deep, I offer you eternal sleep?_

“I don’t desire them.”

Her desperation bled into her words, “I can’t have them.”

Something dawned on Death’s face and he – it - the being which made him walk towards her. His arms are placed carefully by his side but his palms face upward as though approaching a volatile animal.

Harri stayed rooted in her place, praying that Death was there to take her. She shut her eyes and thought, _I’ll finally be able to go to sleep_.

As soon as Death stood in front of her, his hand gently cupped Harri’s cheek. Hesitantly opening her eyes, Harri peered at the being. She’s so exhausted and could feel it within herself that she was ready to go. But the care and warmth in his eyes cut through Harri’s exhaustion and crumbled all of her defenses. The hand on her cheek had a delicacy she hasn’t felt before; it was all too intimate and brought tears to Harri’s eyes.

“You’re the only soul pure enough to ever have my gifts,” Death murmured tenderly.

_You’re the only soul I’d ever want to have my gifts,_ Death didn’t say, but she could feel it branding over her heart.

Harri flinched back. First, she was Freak, then she became Harri. It had been just a little along the way that she became The Girl Who Lived, then The Chosen One, and now Mistress of Death.

She wanted to scream at Death. She had to do something to get that painful tearing out of her throat. But her vocal cords are paralyzed. She struggled against their painful bounds.

“I can’t,” she begged.

A tear slipped past the restraints Harri had attempted to keep up. Death’s eyes seemed to be swimming in pain as he took in the sight of her tear. His thumb carefully brushed the tear to the side.

“You’re Harri, just Harri with a new friend,” Death gave her a kind smile before he took a step back. “You just have an invisible friend who wants to take care of you.”

The being’s words seem to bring calamity to her turmoil.

Just Harri, the idea seemed to kind enough to seduce her to stop. But then she recalled the other part of his words.

Flinching at their reminder, Harri gripped the soft material of the emerald sweater. At the back of her head, she wondered how demented she looked to Death. She had lost her hair tie when tumbling about with Voldemort. Her braid hadn’t faired any better as it had come undone during the dual. Plus, her face was still layered in dirt and blood.

“No,” her words die on the tip of her tongue.

The rejection practically slapped Death across his face and there was so much pain in his eyes but he nodded slowly.

“It’s okay, I’ll let you go.”

But Harri shook her head frantically. That hadn’t meant what Death thought it did.

She tightened her fists and pulled him closer.

“Don’t go! I want you to stay.”

Death paused and stared at Harri with confusion and worry.

“I want you. But can’t you stay by my side without being…invisible?”

“Oh,” Death said, “Yes. But that depends on whether or not you’re okay with me tailing you around as an animal.”

Harri swallowed the knot in her throat and shook her head.

“Just don’t make me be the only one to see you, please. I can’t-.”

The light in Death’s eyes was renewed, and Harri knew that Death got what she tried to say. He gently transferred Harri’s fingers from his sweater into his own hands. Her fingers intertwine with his.

“I won’t. Not until or unless you ask me.”

“Thank you,” she breathed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. This fic was born due to sleep deprivation and lots of feels for Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl on the Nerdist Hannibal Reunion was adorable). It's going to be a wild ride because I want to make this fic super fluffy but also be able to fit in within the dark series so buckle into your seatbelts  
> 2\. The reason why I chose to go for fem!Harri was because being a girl ( _does_ ) change perspectives and I just found a girl to pair more easily with Abigail  
> 3\. If anyone thinks i should add any specific tags, please tell me and I will add them :)  
> 4\. I chose to upload this instead of my other fic 'Ladder Upon the Wall' because I lost four thousand words worth of a section and it hurts to think about fixing it. I'm tired and I just want Abigail loving.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The emptiness of Diagon Alley speaks to the emptiness of her heart. Everything is bleak, dreary, and never the same again.  
> -  
> Harri finds out how rich she actually is. But money can't take her PTSD away

-

They both stood in front of the Bank. Under the guise of a Disillusionment Charm, Harri tried getting her breathing under control. The last time she had been in Gringotts was when they broke in and stole the Hufflepuff Cup.

**_It’ll be alright_.**

Harri gave a side glance at Death and nodded after a moment or so. But that didn’t keep her heart from beating so fast in her chest; there was nothing to drown out the sound of her own thoughts running about. Of course, there were still some hoots coming out of Eeylops Owl Emporium, but it wasn’t like how Diagon Alley used to be. The effects of Voldemort’s rein are all around her.

Harri placed a fist over her chest and practiced her breathing exercises. Once her breath was in control, Harri redid her hair to hide any evidence of her little reaction.

Holding her head high, Harri undid the charm and slipped past the demeaning doors of Gringotts. Right of the bat, the bank felt different. It looked the same though; except the chandelier was missing. She gazed at the spot where they flew the dragon out the ceiling. Harri’s mind rushed about to make sense of the change. But she did not know the Goblin territory nor had there been anything in the newspapers about the goblins.

Making her way down the path, Harri kept up the air of indifference. None of the other wizarding families give her any mind. Her eyes drifted past the goblin heads as to not flinch and give herself away.

Harri came to a stop in front of a goblin whose line was empty. The goblin didn’t look up from the parchment he had been writing on.

“I’d like to speak to the Head Goblin,” the goblin she spoke paused for a moment to look down at her.

_Don’t recognize me, don’t recognize me. Oh, please don’t recognize me._

“Name and vault number,” he snapped the book shut and initiated the process of depositing it away.

“Harriet Potter, Vault 687.”

The goblin stopped his actions midair and peered at her above his glasses.

A malicious look fell over his eyes, and he slipped down from his seat, “The Head Goblin is unavailable at the moment. There is, however, someone else you could talk to.”

Harri could feel the walls around her slithering closer by every second. Her shirt seemed to tighten its collar around her neck due to his penetrating stare.

She swallowed and gave a single nod.

“Excellent,” the goblin bared his teeth. “Follow me.”

Harri fell in line behind the short creature. She flung a helpless look at the dog-wolf hybrid following her.

_Try not to freak out so much if they threaten me, alright? I messed up real bad._

**_They wouldn’t harm you if they knew I was protecting you._ **

_Just let me handle this. If I can’t, then you can reveal yourself. Alright?_

Death hummed back into her mind.

Following the goblin, she noted that slowly by slowly, the lights in the halls got dimmer and dimmer. Soon enough, she could no longer distinguish the path she’s walking on. It didn’t seem to affect the goblin ahead of her, though. She was certain he found amusement in Harri stumbling about in the dark.

The goblin pulled up to a stop in front of a broad door. Had it not been for Death latching forward onto Harri’s robes, she would’ve bumped into him.

“Harri Potter, meet Ragnuk the Sixth,” the door swung open and light flooded the dark hallway. Harri squinted at the brightness of the light and stumbled forward until she was in the doorway.

_Wait, what? Ragnuk! As in Ragnuk, the royal line of goblins?_

Her mental panic had not gone unseen by her escort whose smile just widened.

“It’s not best to keep royalty waiting,” he pushed Harri into the room and shut the door behind her with a deafening boom.

Harri gulped and took in the sight of the clear cut, marbled interior of the room. White marbled slopes and pillars were adorned at the border of the room. The floor was of black marble, and the white shadows in them looked familiar somehow. Unsettled by the unnaturalness of it, she peered up.

There was a goblin on a plush chair, behind a wide desk passively watching her.

Harri started back for just an uncomfortable moment. The next moment she blinked, she found herself sitting in the chair in front of the goblin, grasping a glass of water to her lips.

She spluttered out the water and leaned back. The spluttering water droplets came in close contact with the polished desk but just a few inches above it, they disintegrated.

_Death? What the hell just happened?_

**_Don’t worry about it. He didn’t do anything bad. The memory of the event has just been locked away, so you can’t wield it against the goblins._ **

_What information? Did I even explain my situation? What happened?_ Her words jumbled together as she tried to calm her racing heart.

**_They accept the apology but they want a fee for the repair of the damage. The Ministry is refusing to assist them – insisting the goblins didn’t help them so they won’t do anything to help the goblins. You offered some payment, so they’ll merely take it directly from you._ **

Her wide eyes made Ragnuk smile at her.

“So you were saying you wish to open the rest of your accounts?”

Hesitantly, Harri nodded.

“Excellent. We’d need a few drops of your blood.”

Her eyebrows raised high when she understood what he had verbalized but Harri didn’t argue back. She knew better than that.

The goblin snapped his fingers together and a vial appeared on the desk. At first look, Harri wondered if the decorative tiles were liquefied and placed in the vial. It was eerily similar to the black colored marble. But Harri leaned forward and focused on it. It was only then that she noticed there is a highly deep green background, which contrasts with white veins and light green colored spider web pattern. The liquid seemly weightless and gently swayed back and forth in its confinements.

From the corner of her eye, Harri undoubtedly noticed Ragnuk conjure up a basin levitated next to the desk. He properly directed it by his right side and it is low enough for Harri to see that he then placed a thick sheet of paper in it. The paper’s color is a very light sort of tawny or golden color. Harri was too far away to really identify it apart.

Shifting back from her half-draped position over the desk, she conjured up a sterile needle. She quickly dived it into her left pointer. The blood that swelled out was instant, and Ragnuk merely instructed her to dab the first drop away. He gripped her finger and dropped five blood droplets on top of the vial. The effect was promptly delivered.

The potion gave off a pinkish-pearl puff of visible smoke.

Ragnuk seized the potion delicately and swirled it on top of the paper in the basin. The potion drowned the paper. This time there’s no smoke nor any color change. The very anti-climate feeling didn’t go away. Not even during the five minutes of strained silence and just peering at the basin. Once the five minutes end, Ragnuk waved over the basin and the paper levitated out and settled on the desk.

Harri watched the paper with bated breath as ink slowly unfurled across the paper. She could see a list form down. A pit of dread formed in her stomach as the list got longer and longer.

The goblin in front of her said nothing, but she could feel the shock on his person. After a moment of silence, Ragnuk flipped over the paper to Harri.

“Would you like to transfer them to one vault or keep them in separate vaults all under your name?”

Taking the paper from him, Harri read out its contents.

_Harriet Potter, daughter to James Potter and Lily Potter (both deceased); goddaughter to Sirius Black (deceased) and Alice Longbottom (occupied); godmother to Theodore Lupin._

_Titles: Lady Potter (by blood), Lady Black (by blood), Lady Peverell (by blood), Lady Gaunt (by conquest), Lady Lefay (by Magik), Lady Hufflepuff (by Magik), and Lady Spellman (by conquest)._

_Livable Houses: Three Ancestral homes in Britain – Snowdon, Wales; Dorset, England; Somerset, England. Two Ancestral homes in France – bottom near Pic du Midi d’Ossau; Scandola – Corsica. One Ancestral home in Germany – Altona, Hamburg._

_Life debts owed to you: House of Longbottom, House of Abbott, House of Prewett, House of Shacklebolt, House of Travers, and House of McLaggen. List incomplete._

_Aggregate wealth: 937,650,420,002 Gallons, 13,128,078,955 Sickles and 296,320,763,221 Knuts._

_Other rare items include 20 Goblin forged weapons and 35 unopened chests. 62 family portraits (instantly self-updating) as well as 402 enchanted items._

The paper in Harri’s hand slipped from her grasp and ended up in her lap. Her confused, wide eyes gazed at Ragnuk’s.

_Bloody hell! I’m rich!_

“Would you like a moment alone,” he asked, trying to conceal his amusement. His lips twitched down but his eyes couldn’t hide his mirth.

Harri’s state of shock turned to a state of disbelief. Her eyes flickered back and forth between Ragnuk and the official paper. After a few moments of panicking, she plucked it up and shook her head.

To find out she had been so rich was a hard pill to swallow. She knew the Potters were well off but she hadn’t expected to be a billionaire.

“Return of five Goblin forged weapons to the bank,” Harri began. But Ragnuk cut over her.

“All of them and your debt will you fulfilled,” he proposed.

“That’s…not going to happen. I could return five Goblin forged weapons and the Sword of Gryffindor.”

“It’s not yours to give away. The Ministry retains claim over it,” Ragnuk argued back.

“The sword came to me in my time of need and has been constantly appearing near me whether I want it or not. It’s mine.”

“The sword and 10 Goblin forged weapons.”

“The sword, five Goblin forged weapons and the circulation of the Potter, Black and Peverell accounts.”

“Deal,” Ragnuk said and another parchment appeared. He picked up a quill and started to note things down. “What about the Gaunt, Lefay, Spellman, and Hufflepuff accounts?”

Harri paused. She ran her tongue under her upper teeth.

“The Gaunt vault will be used to set up for the Hogwarts’s Orphan Trust Fund. The rest shall stay under my name and be activated, but wouldn’t be used for another year or so.”

“The heirlooms for these accounts would you like them to be bought up?”

“The heirlooms,” Harri asked, “yes. I’d appreciate that.”

Ragnuk flicked his fingers and with a rush of air passing Harri, he focused back on the parchment.

“Would you like setting up an amount of this currency to be changed to muggle currency?”

Harri paused.

“Is it possible to directly convert the currency when handling the money?”

“Like the use of the credit card?”

Harri had heard about it once. _But where?_ After a few milliseconds, she remembered. _Uncle Vernon mentioned them. What had he said? That they were the next best time to be invented other than the telly?_

“Yes.”

“The credit cards we issue are special editions that have been unpopular in Britain, but plenty in France,” he hinted. “They’re self-updating and receive a simple pin as to seem completely normal to the Muggles. Once created, they have no expiration date and can be used until the accounts have money.”

“Do they have any protections?”

“ _Naturally_ protected by charms and runes to decrease the wear-and-tear, as well as an anti-pocketing protection charm. But if you lose it, there’s nothing to deter it from being used by another person.”

“But can I end the usage of the card after I lose it?”

“Yes, and a new card can be promptly issued. But it charges 100 gallons as we employ an honorary Rune Master to carefully add the top-notch runes on the cards.”

“Would there be a different card for each vault,” Harri questioned. She crossed her legs and pondered at the doors now open to her because of her wealth.

“Normally, each card is for one vault considering most people only have one vault. But we can link the vaults for the card usage if you desire it?”

Harri hummed before she asked about the prices for having three separate cards verses one joint card.

“Each card costs 80 gallons. But linking the accounts, especially these accounts, would cost up to 300 gallons.”

 _On one hand, it’d be easier to use just one card. But if it got lost, I’d have to wait for another. And it’d be more comfortable for me to use other cards if I had to go on the run again,_ Harri pondered back and forth.

While she got lost in her thoughts, the door behind opened. Harri flinched when she noticed another goblin carry in six sleek boxes.

Ragnuk dismissed the goblin once he put the boxes on the table. Harri waited a few extra seconds after the goblin’s footsteps lightened until they completely disappeared.

“Separate cards would be appreciated.”

“Excellent,” Ragnuk smiled at her. His razor-sharp teeth reminded her of the danger of being all alone in the bank.

**_Not alone, Harri. And he’d have to be a fool to think he could harm you._ **

Harri let out a breath when she felt Death’s fur rub against her leg. She glanced down at him and smiled.

_Thank you._

“The heirlooms,” Ragnuk waved his hand over the boxes across their length as to present them with a flourish.

Harri let out a deep, long breath and reached for the one to the farthest left. The box felt smooth to her touch and instead of picking it up, she just flicked open the top. Harri made sure to keep her eyes trained above the boxes, so she couldn’t see inside them. She’d have to look at them all together (better to rip the bandage off) or else she’d freak out about how out of depth she felt.

Harri lifted the tops of the other five boxes. Taking another shaky breath, Harri peered into the boxes.

Whatever she had been expecting, the items in the boxes hadn’t been it.

Harri lifted a hand and moved over to pick at one of the items within the boxes. As soon as her hand was above the vicinity of the boxes, the items began to shake.

Harri chocked and snatched her hand back. But it did nothing to deter the items from flying onto her and attaching themselves to her.

Overwhelmed by the feeling of being completely drained, she dimly noted the room started to spin. The white pillars started to melt into the dark floor. Meanwhile, the white streaks in the black marble started rushing towards her. It was so similar to the way the Dementors glided in air.

 _Are those…spirits_?

Harri tilted back as to escape their outstretched hands but she felt gravity tilt on its axis and she collapsed backward.

The next thought that echoed in her mind was not of herself but of Death’s.

**_Relax, it’s the magic accepting you._ **

But that message went unheeded by Harri who just tensed up.

 ** _It’ll be alright_** , the dark spots in her vision grew larger and larger until all she saw was the impenetrable darkness. Her eyes rolled back and she went limp against the floor.

-

Harri woke as if it was an emergency; as if sleeping had become a vicious thing. Her eyelids that had been leaden with sleep snapped open as violently as if she’d heard the sound of the wands swishing around her to initiate an attack. Her heartbeat raced and there was a buzzing in her brain. Collectively, they were the perfect concoction for panic attacks.

Waking up was no longer the pleasure it was. There hadn’t been any security issues for over a month now, but not a person remained untouched.

Harri pushed herself to control her breathing and it ended up feeding oil to the fire. Harri felt the panic begin like a cluster of spark plugs in her abdomen. Tension grew in her face and limbs, her mind replaying the previous attack. Her breathing became more rapid, shallower. In moments like these, as she stood upon the ledge staring into her personal hurricane, she understood the addiction to calming drought, to the drugs, to the alcoholics... anything to prevent the primal surge to flee.

An invisible hand clasped over her mouth; a ghostly spike of adrenaline pierced her heart, unloading in an instant. She felt her ribs heave as if bound by ropes, straining to inflate her lungs. Her head was a carousel of fears spinning out of control, each one pushing her mind into blackness. Within another minute the panic became a flood of ice water instantly surrounding every limb, creeping higher until it passed Harri’s mouth and nose.

Harri pulled herself up in a sitting position, palpitating with fear. Her clammy hands clasped her bare knees, and she breathed out once, twice. The overwhelming fear wouldn’t go away. She heard an unclear bark as though she was underwater. The bed sunk under the weight of her furry friend. His wet nose brushed against her cheek. Harri lifted her exhausted arms to wrap them around Death and pull him closer. He said nothing but stayed by her side to calm her down. Harri racked her fingers down through his fur and placed her forehead across the length of his side.

The house protected her from the harsh rain and the pitter-patter of the rain protected the house from the prying eyes of the public. All oblivious to the breakdown of their savior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I'm going to dive into a little of Harri's dealing with the events before she and Abigail are near each other.  
> 2\. Thoughts on the new chapter? Was it alright?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People must adapt to changes and when they resist the currents of change, Harri decides to go elsewhere - somewhere she knows she won't have to interact with people like those.

-

Harri combed her hands through Death’s fur, slightly tightening and shaking them. She kept the pressure light and careful. Death preferred her to give him massages than just combing his hair.

He yipped at her.

Harri looked down from her gaze at the horizon and she smiled. Death’s tongue rolled out and his tail wagged behind him.

**_That’s the spot. Oh yes._ **

Harri huffed with a smile and looked back at the lake. The sun would rise at any moment.

She leaned back into the upsloping ground they were resting against. A shiver overcame her as the chilly breeze caressed her exposed face. Her eyes shut against her own accord and she tipped her chin forward. The cold air stifled the tension she had in her shoulder. It was as though they had turned into liquid, for, she felt them bleed out.

A deep sense of serenity overcame her as she stared in rapture at the morning haze that lay before her. Rays of lights danced delicately across the water, birthing together a new day. The darkness bled out into a light blue. It fed into a warmer orange color.

The now red sun engulfed the lake, showing off a fiery view.

Harri and Death sat side by side, their backsides wet from the damp grass. The rising sun painted their faces in orange, the back of their heads in dusty violet. Death placed his head on Harri’s stretched out legs.

He said nothing, he didn’t need to. In the quietness of the morning, everything could be heard.

-

Despite the events that occurred the last time Harri had visited Gringotts, she went back. This time, she was better mentally prepared for any surprises. And better prepared to keep her identity hidden. Presently, rather than using magic to keep herself overlooked, Harri blended into the crowd using muggle props. She had found a good blonde wig from a nearby store to the Leaky Cauldron and she had picked up some makeup from a visit to the mall.

Although Ragnuk had never specified whether she would get the card via owl or through face to face, Harri had decided to go get the card from the bank. Best she went to the bank and kept on her good behavior before the bank sent something trackable to her location.

So, with her face heavily contoured and her wig in position, Harri stalked forward the path to Gringotts. Harri skipped up the stairs, her heeled feet creating little click clacks against the tiled floor.

She kept her eyes straight to keep them from wandering around her like a paranoid dollop head (Death’s words, not hers). All it took was her going to the same accountant who took her down to Ragnuk the last time. He already had the cards wrapped in envelopes, all six of them, and the whole exchange took no more than a few seconds. The money for the cards had been extracted from the vault and paid for.

Harri slipped out of the large doors and let out an unbelieving sigh.

_One step closer to being free._

Seconds after she’s had that thought, a loud argument reached her ears. The words were too muffled to be heard through the sudden increase of a mob, but the harsh clamoring about had already piqued her interest.

Slipping in between the agitated crowd was downright awful. Everyone on their feet seemed to be constantly shifting. For a moment, it was as though she was but a little pebble being pushed about by the strong currents in a large ocean. She tripped over someone’s foot and stabilized herself against someone’s shoulder. The smooth material of the jacket bunched up underneath her clasped hand.

She uttered an apology that was swept away in the wind alongside the other noises.

Harri slipped over a slick patch of ground and fell onto yet another person’s back.

“Watch where yeh’re going yeh filthy mudblood!”

An icy feeling shocked her to her core. Her hand tightened into a fist and she nearly swung it at the senior woman. But she composed her cool with a blink of an eye. Her shoulders relaxed, and she shot a cool smile at the woman.

She moved past the crowd and noted what all of that had been for. In the midst was an official from the Ministry clutching a lengthy piece of parchment. His face was distraught as he tried to alternate successfully between calming the people down and continuing his announcement.

He ultimately folded his paper and tried to get a grip on the crowd. But the crowd started to get rowdier and Harri started to feel uncomfortable in it.

Harri turned around and moved out of the frenzied mob. Though her mind was still focused on what the aged woman had said.

Death who had been lazing about by the side of the mob, just in front of Madam Malkin's storefront, perked up when he noted her leaving the group.

_What do you think about a trip?_

**_To?_ **

_I was thinking something more along the lines of America. No need to stay about in this stifling area with no sunshine._

**_Sure. When do we leave?_ **

Harri herded Death to the side of _Terror Tours_ where she pulled two makeup wipes out of the little pouch crisscrossed over her body.

Everything other than the eyeshadow and the lip gloss is easily removed by the damp wipe. The curly wig is next to go: shoved deep into the expandable pouch.

Her wand, which had been taped to the inside of her forearm sleeve, was retrieved. Harri palmed the familiar wood and waved a Disillusionment Charm on her face for the second time that month.

Death yipped at her feet as Harri ran her hands through her hair. Beside her, Death shrugged his impressive fur coat and his body seemed to shrink into itself. Within a moment, Death stood by her side as a cat rather than the large wolf-like dog he had been before.

_All we have to do is some shopping. Unless you have some errands to run to?_

**_I’ll be perfectly fine to leave right after shopping._ **

Death let out a meow and leaped up from the floor, bouncing off at the brick wall before settling over her shoulder. In the distance, the booming sound of thundering could be heard.

**_Great! It couldn’t have gotten ready to rain when I was a dog? The weather just had to wait until I shifted into the form that loathed rain!_ **

Harri softly smiled to herself and slipped out of the alley they were in. Madam Malkin’s would have been the best place to do some shopping, but with the crowd in front of it, Harri didn’t want to take any chances at not being recognized.

She kept her gaze light but did not let any detail of the people around her go unmissed. The sky above her darkened progressively faster. Harri picked up her pace to keep herself from being caught in the rain.

The shop she entered didn’t have an old-fashioned bell above the door, but it did give off a sweet, whimsical musical note when she entered. From the not-so-obvious glance at the door’s top, Harri denoted it must have been from the wooden box a few centimeters above the door.

**_Huh, this is quite different from your style, isn’t it?_ **

Harri smiled at the well-dressed woman who appeared by her right side, standing behind the register.

“Good morning. I’m Elva. How may I serve you today?”

“I’d like a full wardrobe. Specifically the winter formal wear wardrobe,” Harri said smoothly, channeling the confidence of Mr. Dursley and the charisma of Fleur.

“Would that include the undergarments?”

Harri felt her face flush, “Pardon?”

**_There goes you ‘high-end’ image._ **

The witch’s lips twitched upwards, “The formal wear wardrobe included undergarments that are highly luxurious to the touch. But we’ve been informed by many previous customers that asking beforehand would be more fitting for every new customer.”

Harri’s face reddened even further and she nodded curtly.

“Then please follow me,” Elva headed over to Harri.

_Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad. Plus, it’s not like we aren’t rich enough to treat ourselves just this once._

Harri took in the sight of the expensive wooden walls and the beautiful clothes lined up on the side as she followed the person.

**_‘Ourselves?’_ **

_Of course! Even if you intend to remain as my ‘pet’ for a while, you need clothes to wear if you ever get bored and want to transform back into a human form._

The patterns and colors of the clothes caught her attention. They were so pretty. Harri noted Elva glancing back at her.

“That’s the _Purified_ collection. It’s made of a special kind of wool specially made in Spain, and a blend of Down and Silk.”

“I wasn’t aware that any stores in Diagon Alley sold ready-made clothes.”

The sale spoke smiled softly, “It’s a recent attachment. Some of the foreigners find it more useful to buy pre-stitched.”

Harri hummed thoughtfully.

“We can visit that side once you are finished with the wardrobe transformation,” she proposed.

“That would be perfect.”

“Of course.”

Harri pulled up behind Elva who waved at a folded stack of mirrors with her wand. A stack of mirrors slid apart from the others, sliding towards them. It settled two feet away from the other stack and began to unravel. In front of her, the mirrors melted together, leaving behind a large tri-folding mirror. The mirrors together made the top part of a trapezium, with the straight bottom as space where a circular step with the height of half a foot lay.

“Please stand up on the step,” the brunette pulled out her wand. “Relax your shoulders and place your feet flat on the floor. That would involve removing the shoes, I’m afraid.”

Death zealously cut in while Harri followed the instructions of the worker, **_I can make my own clothes if I need to. Plus I can’t well transform into a human in front of her._**

_Why not?_

**_You know why! Animagi are bound by the law to be registered. I transform, they get curious and you get in trouble._ **

_We can say we’re foreigners._

“Do you have a color scheme or fabric in mind with this wardrobe?”

Harri sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

“Can we go through the colors that go well with my complexion?”

Elva nodded.

“Alright then. We’ll just take your measurements and then pull out some fabrics as well as colors that will look aesthetically pleasing with you.”

“Alright.”

**_You already spoke to her in a British accent. We can’t change anything now!_ **

_Okay fine! I didn’t think this through. But you can sneak out, transform and come back as another customer, and get fitted!_

The measuring tape appeared less wildly as the one in Madam Malkin’s often did, but it was equally efficient in taking her sizes.

**_I don’t want to!_ **

_Why not!_

The measuring tape slipped from her shoulders and started on her chest.

**_Because clothes are restricting!_ **

Harri coughed.

“Are you alright Ma’am?”

“Yes. Sorry, the dreadful weather has seemed to have caught up to me,” Harri waved away the concern.

Elva hesitated. She lifted her wand once again but then she put it down.

“Would you like a glass of water,” Elva asked with concern.

Harri licked her lips and gave a jerky nod, “That would be most appreciated.”

Whilst the salesperson moved away to retrieve some liquid for her, Harri whirled her head around to stare at Death.

_What do you mean clothes are restricting? You were wearing clothes when I met you!_

**_Uh, no. My clothes materialize on me. It’s a part of my essence that weaves the clothes over me._ **

_So you can just materialize them?_

**_Yes._ **

_And you thought telling me that wouldn’t have saved this awkward conversation?_

**_Oh yeah! Definitely. Let me just casually bring up the fact I’m naked because I’m not exactly wearing clothes but my essence, which covers my dignity._ **

Harri flushed and her eyes jerked to the other side of the store. The measuring tape lay down on the table while a quill floated above in the air, noting down the sizes.

“The water,” the brunette waved over to the floating glass of water. She then excused herself momentarily, saying she was going to pick out the fabrics.

Harri grabbed the surprisingly heavy glass. The sip of water made her eyebrows raise in surprise. The water was cool and she let out a hum that created a lilting note.

She quickly drained the water and placed it on the circular table that was on her left side.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Harri shifted uncomfortably in front of the mirrors.

**_So what’s the plan exactly? To leave?_ **

_We take the clothes, go pack everything we might want to take with us or have Kreacher do it for us, go buy plane tickets and leave._

**_Plane tickets?_ **

_Yeah. It’d be nice to not rely on magic for once._

Death fell silent and Harri stared at herself in the mirror.

It was so odd; she had changed so much since the battle. No longer did her face look sunken in. Death had bullied her into taking health and nutritional potions which helped bring back the glow she had had when she was ten.

Her eyes still jumped out with their bright color. But with the fast hair growth generated when Death and Harri merged, her eyes didn’t make her look eerie or ghost-like.

Harri sighed and smiled sadly at Death whose tail was wrapped around him protectively.

“Alright,” Elva called out loudly. The sound of her footsteps became louder. “I’ve picked out some fabrics and I bought out the design book. To see if you like some designs better than the rest.”

She reappeared, holding a large tome. Behind her, a few rolls of fabrics bobbed with her.

Harri straightened and stood still as Elva came to her side, standing just a tad bit behind her. Harri stared at her through the mirror’s reflection.

“Would you like to choose the designs first or to select the colors?”

“Is it possible to pick colors and have some samples with us when I go through the book?”

She took a step back and waved her wand, making the fabrics behind her start to unravel.

“The fabrics will wrap themselves against you, giving you a preview of what your clothes might look like.”

Harri licked her lips, suddenly anxious about having stepped out of her comfort zone.

**_We could just walk out right now._ **

She shut her eyes as the first colored sheet wrapped around her body, _Too late now._

**_It’s never too late for the both of us,_** Death reprimanded gently.

But Harri had no answer for him.

“This color is clean and works beautifully with your dark hair. If paired with some lace, we can explore some dimensions.”

Harri nodded, prompting Elva to continue her speech. She gracefully shifted from one color to the next. Harri took note of the colors Elva seemed to go against.

She listened as Elva pointed out the differences in the magically grown fabrics. As Elva breezed through the entire discourse, Harri flicked through the sketches.

In the end, Harri pulled out the designs with the nudging of Elva’s suggestions.

Soon enough, the fitting part of their shopping came to an end.

“Would you like me to accompany you to the readymade stand?”

“It’s alright,” Harri said lightly, “I’ll just grab a few t-shirts.”

“I’ll be in the back then. These clothes should be done in an hour and a half.”

“I have some things to buy. I’ll make those purchases after I finish with the shirts and then I’ll be back when everything is made,” Harri pointed out.

Elva left Harri and Death to roam freely in the shop. The pair walked through the readymade clothes.

**_This is an awful lot of clothes for a ‘friend’._ **

_This isn’t for her,_ Harri replied. She didn’t mean to change how she was going to be dressed for the entire winter, but it wasn’t like she was hiding who she truly was. These were just clothes and she was overdue a makeover.

When Harri relayed those thoughts to Death, he just stared at her with skepticism.

Harri directed a smile at Death, and she scratched his head lightly.

_Promise I’m not pretending to be someone other than myself._

Harri grabbed a couple of shirts and bottoms. As she paid for the items she had selected, Harri called out Death once again.

_Can you ask Kreacher to start packing up?_

Death purred and rubbed himself against Harri’s heeled foot, **_Done_**.

Harri bent down and picked Death up. Now in the arms of his Harri, Death stretched and went limp, simply enjoying the sensation of Harri walking out the doors.

That was until the clouds above their heads let out a bolt of blinding lightning. As soon as he saw the flash, Death buried himself in Harri’s arms. But that didn’t keep out the deafening thunder that came by seconds after the lightning.

Death’s fur hackled up. His tail jumped to a bushed up appearance and he hissed in his place.

**_Wherever we go, can it please not be as troublesome as here?_ **

_Minnesota’s pretty nice,_ Harri wistfully thought. She traced her fingers over Death’s fur as she thought back to her experience.

**_You lived there with the Dursleys for two summers,_** Death spoke up. He knew about it. Harri always carried around a picture taken in the middle of the forest in her wallet. It was small and pretty ordinary. But that view of a little stream obviously held something important in her heart. He just never asked about it because she never seemed to be sheltered enough for a conversation about the past. Until now.

_We were neighbors with the friend I want to see._

Harri bypassed the Madam Malkin’s space that was now crowd-free. She Death, meanwhile, took this time to ponder how to ask the next question. Many minutes passed by as Harri tried to commit the shops deep in her memory.

**_Why?_ **

Harri mulled over the question. It wasn’t that hard to think about but the feelings that the simple question bought up wasn’t something she could just explain. She thought back to warmth, to striking blue eyes full of genuine feelings.

_Why need a reason?_

Death snuggled against her arm and rested one paw on her forearm, enjoying the rare content coming from her. The comfortable atmosphere lasted throughout their shopping spree.

They picked up some potion ingredients from The Apothecary. It was a quick run, one which was over within twenty minutes. Exiting the shop, Harri cast the Impervius Charm on herself. She snickered when Death gave her the stink eye when she took the first step out from under the cover.

_One of the strongest Celestial beings, and you can’t even be waterproof._

Death growled at her and Harri rolled her eyes before casting the charm on him as well. They strolled through Diagon Alley, unhurried.

Death didn’t speak up again but he shifted in her arms. Harri cast Tempus after a long time of walking down all the way to ‘Twilfitt and Taffings’. Death leaped down from her arms.

**_I’ll go get that ticket of yours while you go get the clothes._ **

Harri’s lips twitched upwards making Death lunge at her. His little paws swiped at her legs.

**_You humans are so annoying,_** he growled out.

_Aww, Death._

Death paused and rubbed himself against her leg. Harri bent down and gently scratched under his jaw, across his neck.

Death purred and licked the hand closest to his face. He then leaped away.

Harri looked at the sky. Water droplets propelled off an inch above her face. She shut her eyes and enjoyed the wetness all around her. Harri let out a deep breath and slid through the doors once again.

The musical note chimed once again. As she walked deeper into the store, Harri noticed her clothes being pulled out of a discreet room in the back. They floated over to the trolley by the door and hanged themselves on the handlebar above it.

“Welcome back ma’am,” Elva said as she exited the room. “All of the articles are ready to go.”

Harri swiped her tongue over her lower lip as she got closer to Elva.

“Would you like to try them on before having them packed? Just in case you’d like to alter the size or design?”

Harri startled, “We should…um…yeah. Trying on the clothes seems like a good idea.”

Silently, Harri sent a message to Death about the altered plan.

Elva nodded and the trolley made its way to the same place where they had stood on the podium, getting fitted for clothes.

“I’ll give you some privacy as you change in the dressing room and then you can come out and check out the angles over here.”

Harri faithfully followed Elva to the side and after her clothes transferred to the bar inside, she thanked her as she entered the lofty room.

Harri let out a sigh at the sight of the tall mirror covering up an entire wall.

All it seemed like these days was her reflecting on something. Whether it was figuratively or literally.

Harri undressed quickly. She grabbed the first article of clothing within her grasp, which happened to be made of a velvet deep blue material. The belt of the dress was actually numerous white crystals cut into stone shapes that decreased in number when moving farther away from the waist. The way it looked like blew her mind away. It was modest and sleek to the touch. Harri shifted her gaze up from adjusting the tulle skirt up to the mirror.

A gasp of delightful surprise escaped her throat. She placed a hand over her stomach as she marveled at the view. She could scarcely recognize herself in the view.

Harri let out a quivering breath and placed a hand on the door handle. A feeling of anticipation started building up in her stomach. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face when she left the room and made her way to the podium.

Elva was going through the designs when Harri stepped onto the podium. Elva looked up startled.

“How do you,” Elva’s voice faded away once she took in the sight in front of her. She bit her lip, suppressing her pride at the way the dress hugged Harri.

Elva stepped behind her, “Any issues?”

Harri just let out a disbelieving laugh and shook her head. Her hands glided down the midsection once again.

“This…this is absolutely lovely.”

Harri looked at Elva through the mirror. She couldn’t keep the radiant lopsided grin off her face.

Elva blushed and took a step back, “I’m glad you like it.”

Later on, once Harri had sampled everything, she couldn’t help herself when she tipped another twenty gallons. Death who had appeared by her side near the end of the show rolled his eyes at her.

**_Oh, you big sap!_ **

_Guess Mrs. Malfoy was right when she mentioned that Twilfitt and Taffings was a good place to shop. Even if she said it to bait Madam Malkin’s._

Death stretched, resembling the Downward Dog Pose before he leaped down from the counter to stride by her side.

“Have a good evening Miss,” Elva called out. Harri grinned back at her and waved goodbye.

Harri laughed sheepishly. Her eyes were bright when she looked down at Death. They seemed to look even brighter with the flush covering her face. She swung her arms, the extra weight of the bags not weighing her down the slightest.

Her happiness seemed to transfer over to Death who purred loudly and slinked between Harri’s legs. She giggled at the blissful look on Death’s face.

_Let’s ditch this joint._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have no idea what has happened. This chapter is hella choppy and I'll do my best to fix it. But I just really wanted to show how Harri, little by little, is learning to be selfish (by pampering herself with clothes and materials when she never had the chance to do so before) and has made a life-changing decision in her normal Gryffindorish ways


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She didn’t know if she heard the sound first, a high cry or if she felt the stab of the knife in her abdomen.  
> -  
> Harri embarks on the journey.

-

Harri was not sulking – she wasn’t!

She was just trying to get comfortable on her seat on the airplane. The frown on her face had nothing to do with the airplane. Or it’s crazily cramped space.

Death howled in her at her displeasure, **_You’re the one who wanted to use the muggle passage._**

Harri shifted uncomfortably. She placed her elbow on the aisle-sided armrest. But an incoming passage bulldozed into her space and knocked her arm off the armrest.

“Oh, so sorry,” they said distractedly.

Harri grimaced as they swung around and their oversized bag collided against the side of her face.

 _It’s okay. We’ll be fine,_ Harri side glanced at Death.

The seat in front of her jostled as a young kid jumped in his seat.

“Henry! Calm down!”

“But mum! I need to use the loo,” he whined back.

“Not now!”

“But I gotta!”

“I said hold it.”

Harri sighed resignedly and leaned back in her shabby chair. She could always fall asleep.

“Woah! Look at that beast mum!”

Harri’s eyes flew open. The kid was now peering at Death through the exposed top of the chair.

“Don’t say such rude thin- Ah,” the mother shrieked. Almost everyone’s head in the area spun around to look at the source of the high-pitched yell.

The woman’s eyes glanced back and forth from Harri back at the dog.

“Sit down,” she roughly seized her son and placed him in the proper position on the seat.

“But mum!”

“No buts! Now let me see if we can switch seats. I don’t want you anywhere near that savage animal!”

Harri let her head fall back on the neck rest with a thud. She scarcely heard the ghastly woman impatiently wave down an air hostess.

**_You were saying?_ **

Harri said nothing at first. And when the air hostess asked Harri if she could change her seat as to not disturb any passengers, she only pressed her lips together.

Once Harri was done explaining to the air hostess that her dog was perfectly trained and she had permission to let him in the plane, Death added fuel to the fire.

**_And to think, only 8 hours and 40 minutes to go._ **

Harri let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes as soon as the stewardess was gone. She counted to ten and then when Death’s tail brushed her forearm, she took out the book Kreacher had packed for her.

She leafed through to find the page she had marked and began to read. Overhead, the captain began to speak. She blocked out the noise, because hello, Death wouldn’t let her die if they were ever plummeting to their death.

‘ _Odd how easily you can forget your hand is on fire._

 _Oh, sorry. Sadie, here. You didn’t think I’d let my brother prattle on forever, did you? Please, no one deserves a curse that horrible._  
  
We arrived back at Brooklyn House, and everyone swarmed me because my hand was stuck to a flaming scroll…’

Death curled his tail around him and rested his head on his laid out paws.

 ** _She’s going to end up with Anubis_**. **_The writing is literally just telling us._**

_Do I ever interrupt you when you’re reading? Huh? Hush. Let me read this in peace._

**_Sure, go ahead, but I’m telling you. She’s endgame with Anubis._ **

Harri huffed quietly and folded the top corner of the page so she wouldn’t get lost.

_Sure it may seem like that. But c’mon. Doesn’t Walter seem like a better choice? He’s normal and human! How in the world is Sadie going to handle a non-human boyfriend?_

**_It isn’t that hard. Time had mingled with some humans before. You just gotta make sure the person is worth it. Time’s mistakes taught us better._ **

_You’re telling me you guys mingle with people too? I thought I was a special case?_

**_Nah, we used to. But then the Cosmos started striking us down when we began to become rowdier. It’s because of Time that you lot started to mark down the hours and so. And look at the mess it made._ **

**_That’s why I’m the last one left._ **

Harri looked down at her lap. Her eyes awkwardly shifted. How could she reply to something like that?

She nearly apologized to him but then she returned her gaze to the book and focused on the words. She of all people knew that apologies to things to the past mostly did nothing but bring back harsh memories.

‘” _Go,’ Anubis said. "I’m sorry I can’t do more. But happy birthday, Sadie.’ He leaned forward and kissed me on the lips.’_

Death out a suspiciously high pitched squeal at the line. He sat up and his chest puffed up.

**_Haha! I told you so! I knew it! I knew it!_ **

Harri pressed her lips together to keep the laughter from bubbling out.

_Wow. Aren’t **you** excited?_

**_I told you so,_** he sang out. It almost made up for the fact that Death had made fun of her terrible choice to travel via airplane. Almost.

It was odd. The extravagance and hype about reading never bothered her, but now she could get why Hermione loved to soak up the words off the pages. Even if they were informative books and nothing like these she was reading.

Harri continued to flip the page until she read the very last line of the book. She turned off the light overhead about a few minutes later. Just so it wouldn’t aggravate her eyes though. The air felt immediately colder than before.

Harri let out a yawn and rested her head back. Her fingers tensed around the spine of the book.

She could feel sleep grasping her mind but she fought against it. She wanted to stay awake so she could go over her plan of surprising _her._

But Harri couldn’t stop her eyelids slowly closing. Nor could she stop herself from burrowing herself deeper into the chair.

-

Harri knelt to unlock the leash around Death’s neck. Strangers walked around Harri, providing her a wide room to take care of her dog.

She placed three nervous fingers on Death’s head, and they maneuvered through the crowd of passengers to move quickly to get to the exit. The other hand, held her documents, so she could get the entire process over with rather fairly.

In the line in front of her, a couple dotted on each other. Harri smiled to herself when she noticed the rings on their fingers.

“So you two are traveling together,” the worker bought up as he scanned the passport. “Man, I would’ve been over the moon if my friends and I did something like that.”

“Uh…we’re engaged,” the heavy backpacker said. His welsh accent put off the worker for a moment who just smiled and nodded. But as soon as he comprehended the words, he paused.

The worker looked up at him and back at the other partner.

“Oh,” he said dumbly. “Well, congratulations on that.”

The thinner partner covered his mouth to hide his humorous smile. As they moved ahead, Harri couldn’t ignore the fierce pang that hit her when she noticed the couple lace their jeweled fingers together.

Death pushed his head up and she looked back down at him. She had her passport scanned and after extracting the carry-on suitcase from the conveyer belt, they left the airport. There was a subdued crowd outside the airport. Mostly people whose flights were delayed.

Harri knocked on a cabbie’s window and he cranked it down. They exchanged pleasantries and then she asked if he could drop her off to the address she had etched in her memories.

She had to repeat the address twice when he couldn’t seem to get over her accent. The second time, his face contorted like he knew that address but couldn’t remember why. But he still ushered her into the cab when the sky above crackled with lightning.

Death huffed and sat diligently while Harri slumped down on the comfortable seats. The car smelt of a dry cleaner with its crisp smell and the cool air of the air conditioner.

Harri pulled out her phone from the bag and tinkered with it for a bit. Silence fell over the car as they were driven out of the airport’s vicinity.

Death panted lightly and his tongue rolled out. He pressed his nose against the window as little streaks of rain-smeared against them.

They lulled to a stop when traffic blocked their path.

“So are you new around here,” the cabbie asked. He checked the rear mirror as he shifted lanes.

Harri looked up from her phone. She shut it off and placed it in her lap

“No. My family lived here for a while,” Harri said.

“Oh, extended?”

“Sorta. My aunt took me in when I was a baby.”

The cabbie nodded and after a quiet moment, spoke up again.

“You do this often then?”

Harri folded her hands on her lap and tilted her head to the side. “Uh…it’s been a while since I’ve traveled here and anywhere in general.”

He nodded absentmindedly, taking a minute to focus on the road. Even though they were stuck, most cars were trying to break through by switching lanes. Which created even more disorder.

Harri checked the time on her phone. Kreacher had packed it with an American sim and had already changed everything to fit Harri’s needs. She slumped back in her seat, wrapping one arm around Death and gently petting him. She looked out the window, taking in the bleary sight of seas of red with some yellow lights among the cars’ behinds. She turned her attention back inside and rested her head against Death’s back.

The cabbie’s information was encased in a white flashcard, laminated and taped to the partition.

_Did you know Mrs. Figg’s husband’s name was David?_

**_Thank you for that piece of information I will never use._ **

Harri envisioned a huge finger and flipped him off. She pressed her lips together to keep herself from laughing out loud at his betrayed face.

“It’s pretty ballsy of you to be traveling alone through.”

Harri shifted to her attention back to David.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, with the Minnesota Shrike, every parent has locked their daughter inside the house. Especially with what happened today.”

“Minnesota Shrike?”

The cabbie snorted and when he realized she was genuinely asking, he spun around to look at her. His incredulous look offended Harri.

“Are you serious?”

Harri drew back and stammered. She was pretty busy to check out what had been happening lately. It wasn’t like she had plenty of time to herself…

“Kid, please tell me you watched the news before traveling at least?”

“I…uh, was away at boarding school?”

“Damn,” he fell silent. But it didn’t last long. “The Minnesota Shrike was a psycho. He grabbed nine girls and disappeared off with them. Apparently, the feds found out he was eating them. He fed them to his family too. They wouldn’t have caught him if he didn’t murder the last kid out in the open. And it was at the right time too. As soon as they rolled up his house, he slit his wife’s throat and tried to kill his kid too.”

“She survived, though,” he added on as an afterthought.

Harri stared at him with wide eyes. Her head spun, and she let out a sharp breath to keep it from building up.

Her parents had died for her. And someone’s tried to kill them.

She shook her head as soon as that thought popped in her mind. She shouldn’t think too much of it. It wasn’t her problem. She had already gone through her one-sided beating from life than to take on a stranger’s issues as well.

“What about today,” she asked.

The cabbie hummed questioningly.

“Ah, right! That kid came back today. And,” he stressed, “there’s been a new murder.”

“You think the kid did it?”

He stammered a bit and then shrugged hesitantly.

“It would seem like it, don’t ya think? But they’ve got pictures of the scene up. And it seems like you’d need more muscle than that girl’s got on her to do everything.”

Harri hummed silently and she gently prodded for more information. Which the cabbie gladly gave.

“Shit!”

Harri startled, and she watched the cabbie accidentally press the breaks as something dawned on him. The engine emitted a surprised groan. Meanwhile, cars behind his started to honk at them loudly. His movements stuttered as he pushed ahead.

“What is it?”

Harri cautiously picked at her phone.

“Kid,” he stared at her through the rear mirror with wide eyes, “Your address. Did you know the Schurrs?”

The voice, the paleness, and the devastating worry on his face shook Harri.

Harri leaned forward and stared at him through the glass partition.

“Why?”

But when he struggled to find his words, his eyes still looking at her with pity, she asked again but this time with more aggression.

“The girl…I don’t know what her name was…but she was friends with the Hobbs kid.”

Harri froze. Dread crept up her spine, little pinpricks formed in her hands as she paled.

“And well…they found the Schurr’s kid at the Hobbs cabin.”

Her hands trembled as she snatched the phone and rushed to chrome. She felt something heavy leaden itself on her shoulders and her ears block out the sounds of the steady rain.

Death, who had been staring out the window, turned his attention on Harri. She felt his prodding, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than the sound of blood rushing towards her ears. The sound was so faint, but it overpowered everything else.

Her fingers roughly pressed at the screen and within seconds multiple articles popped up. Harri tapped on the first one, written on a website called tattlecrime.

Her phone slid from her slick, sweaty hands. It fell in her lap, the weight on her shoulders now felt more like a noose around her neck this time.

“I’ll pay you double if you can get me there within the next five minutes!”

The cabbie solemnly nodded and changed his lanes. To his silent promise, they arrived on the taped street much faster than she had thought.

A rowdy crowd was pressed behind several yellow tapes. Harri slipped out of the cab after practically flinging the money in his lap and she darted about the messy mass of people.

Harri's memories bled into her link with Death and he paused momentarily as he watched Harri's personal moments.

Death shifted, this time into a tiny crow and he soared high.

His black body practically fused with the darkness of the sky. 

**_I can’t see Abigail._ **

Harri swore and hid behind a wall before pulling at Death’s powers. Now invisible, Harri didn’t worry about the patrolling police and, ducked under the yellow plastic. She took a couple of steps when her attention was grabbed by vibrant red hair.

She whirled around with her heart in her throat. But the crowd covered her view. Harri pushed past, though it was like the woman had disappeared from the area.

Harri took two steps forward before she shook her head. Her troubled eyes searched over the top of the crowd.

Harri clenched her jaw. She couldn’t get distracted. She circled back to her path, sliding past a cop.

Harri walked through the familiar hallway of the house she once found refuge in. The walls were barren, all items boxed up and placed in boxes near the kitchen door. The fireplace was practically covered in a layer of dust.

Her hands trembled as she picked up her scarf. Blood was threaded alongside with the wool. Harri’s legs shook, and she slid down to the floor. Tears built up in her eyes and she rocked back and forth.

A door was thrown open, the wind billowing outside. Streaks of flashing lights burst across the sky. Death strode inside, his cardigan flowing behind him. As the lightning flash ended and a moment of darkness shrouded the room, Harri saw his image flicker. His clothes melted away to a black cloak; his face decomposed rapidly, leaving behind his yellowed skull. His black pits sought Harri’s. As another round of lightening started, his face changed back to the one she was used to.

“Harri,” he called out softly.

Her body shook as she fell against Death’s arms.

“I couldn’t-I should’ve…I-,” Death shushed Harri and held in her in his arms.

They stayed in that position until Harri’s trembling stopped.

Death carefully pulled Harri off the bloodied floor and took her outside. Harri flinched as Death lowered her onto the steps.

“I’ll be right back,” Death promised. He pulled off his cardigan and draped it on Harri.

Harri crossed her arms and buried her face into them. Her weak knees twitched ever so often. Even as she took deep breaths and counted numbers; she still felt lightheaded. The goosebumps on her arms didn’t seem to go down.

Death reappeared. His face was worried, and he grasped Harri’s hands in his. Harri glanced at him, wondering what he saw. A frightened little girl with a too pale face and glassy eyes? Someone who was supposed to be strong but instead was just too vulnerable and weak?

Death’s fingers were light in their touches, but the freezing temperature of them pulled Harri out of her head and her worries.

“After the incident occurred with Melissa Schurr, Abigail Hobbs and her FBI escorts came back to the house. There was a crowd and the police had to be called to get them to calm down. Her escorts had to return to the scene, just in case the killer returned,” Death said. “Abigail was in the house and Nicholas Boyle, who had been a victim’s sibling, attacked Abigail.”

Harri’s fingers clenched around Death’s in a stronghold.

“She’s okay,” he consoled. “They took her back to Baltimore where she’s been staying since the attack on her.”

Harri stared at Death. Her face void of any emotion yet her mind raced. She was about to stand up when she noticed Death looking a little to the left.

“What aren’t you telling me,” Harri winced at the way her voice cracked at the beginning.

Death sucked in his cheek and looked down at their hands. Harri’s fingers had gone ghostly with the strain of how hard she was gripping his. She suddenly released the grip, but not before Death let out a near inaudible sigh.

“The police believe Nicholas Boyle escaped after attacking Abigail Hobbs. She said that. But he’s dead.”

Harri didn’t freeze. She didn’t shake her head and try to deny Abigail could’ve killed someone. She didn’t do anything as much as blink at the sudden confession.

“Good.”

Death’s grip on her hands tightened and so Harri looked straight in his eyes. He pulled her face closer to his until they were just a breath apart.

His eyes sought hers. Harri stood her ground even as his grip on her hands loosened.

“Okay,” he said.

Rather than the disappointed look, she thought he’d have, he almost looked proud.

He stood up, fixed his shirt, and held out his hand for Harri to stand up.

“Don’t you want to see Abigail?”

He pulled her up and together, they disappeared from the crime scene and into the Port Haven Psychiatric Facility driveway.

Harri’s back hit the brick pillars when she slipped over an icy puddle.

Death sniffed haughtily. Harri wanted to glare at him or even roll her eyes at him, but she couldn't find any energy to do so and so he just transformed into a cat.

Death leaped away.

**_I’ll go check the room she’s in then leave you two to it. I’m going to head out to find us a place to buy._ **

She sighed and pushed herself up. Harri brushed a few stray leaves that stuck to her black sweater. Her heels were now encased in mud and so she slid them off. Harri looked up at the antique-looking cottage. She could make out a fountain by the side in the limited light.

With nothing else to do, she circled the facility slowly.

Abigail had an aunt. But if she was here, that meant that her aunt had either died during the time Harri had been absent in Abigail’s life or her aunt had just abandoned Abigail.

The location of it all, as well as the image of this place, seemed a little too expensive. Even if Abigail was alone, she wouldn’t squander about the money left behind to her.

**_On the east wing, second last room by the corner. There’s a red pot by her window._ **

Harri thanked Death. As she reached her window, Harri let the invisibility fall off her. She placed her shoes down on the gravel and pulled out her leather gloves.

The window was unlocked and so she pushed it up easily. Her leg hovered over the windowsill as she snuck inside. Harri peered into the darkened room which seemed completely bare except for a book by the side table. Harri took note of how the bed was messy but Abigail wasn’t inside it.

Harri took a step forward.

It was a blur. She didn’t know if she heard the sound first, a high cry or if she felt the stab of the knife in her abdomen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love angst   
> But I also love fluff  
> Hopefully, this fic leans more in the fluff aspect, or else I'll fall down the rabbit hole of angst-filled chapters with a bit of fluff appearing every solar eclipse


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Together, they had an early breakfast. Yet neither one of them was focused on the food.  
> How could they, when their knees touched while they sat side by side?  
> -  
> Harri is very very gay

-

It was suddenly cold and her mind went blank. The knife twisted inside her and she choked on a gasp.

“Harri?”

Harri’s knees buckled. She was a feather floating down to the earth.

A face appeared over hers.

“Abigail,” her lips whispered.

But rather than the smile she had anticipated, Abigail looked frantic.

“Oh my god,” Abigail cried. “Oh my god! Harri!”

Abigail pressed down on the area around the knife.

Harri looked down, “Oh.”

“Harri, hold on. We can get you to the hospital and-.”

Harri grabbed the knife by its handle. She pressed her lips together to keep the scream bubbling up inside, before pulling it out of her body.

Harri sagged against the floor. Her face immediately whitened and she breathed out shallowly.

“No, no nonono,” Abigail sobbed.

Harri shook her head. Her breath slowly evened out.

“I’m fine.”

But Abigail wasn’t listening to her.

Harri sat up, ignoring the pain in her mid-chest.

“I’m fine,” she insisted. Harri pulled her sweater dress up.

Instead of the gaping hole that was supposed to be left behind by the kitchen knife, was a pink scar that was whitening out rapidly.

Harri grabbed Abigail’s hand and placed it over the newly healed skin.

“I’m fine.”

Abigail slipped and almost fell over Harri. She shoved a hand by Harri’s side, stabilizing her against Harri.

For the first time since Harri entered the room, she could see Abigail. Harri noted how haggard Abigail looked in the pale light. Her eyes were red and puffy. Not to mention Abigail’s hair looked like a rat’s nest.

Harri had never seen anyone more beautiful.

“Hey,” Harri whispered.

“Hey.”

Their voices were soft; one dry and choked up while the other was hoarse and wet. It was as though they were little kids once again, sneaking around the house. Harri pushed her weight on her elbow and propped herself closer to Abigail; who’s eyes peered at Harri’s face.

Harri’s hand trembled as she cusped Abigail’s cheek. She wanted to say something, anything. But she just couldn’t because Abigail just melted into Harri’s hand.

Harri’s eyes softened. She rubbed her thumb against the wet tracks of Abigail’s cheeks.

Abigail’s mouth trembled as her eyes drooped.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Harri said once again. They gravitated to each other.

**_If one of you says ‘hey’ again, I’m going to barf._ **

Abigail let Harri push her back. As Harri tried to move past the rock in her throat, her eyes caught sight of the scar spanning across Abigail’s throat.

Abigail noticed what Harri’s eyes found and she shrunk in herself. She stood up, brushing the dust from her pyjamas. Harri sat there stupefied. Abigail rubbed a hand across her face and bent down to pull Harri up.

They fell on the bed together. Their heads fell very close together. Harri held up one of her hands as she rested on her arm. Abigail intertwined her fingers with that hand and peered at her. There was a teary surprise in her eyes. Abigail opened her mouth to say something before she shut it again.

“You came,” she settled on.

“Sorry for being late,” Harri murmured.

Abigail choked on her laugh.

“10 points from Gryffindor.”

Harri blinked slowly, “Can I do anything to make up for it Professor?”

“I can think of a couple of things,” Abigail brushed her nose against Harri’s.

She gulped and Abigail’s palm cradled her delicate throat. Her warm fingers traced the path down her neck and rested against the collar of her sweater. They stared at one another for a long time, just making sure the other was truly in the room with them.

“I prayed that you’d be here the moment I woke up,” Abigail eventually said. “I never stopped. Praying that is.”

Harri reached for Abigail’s hand on her body.

“When I felt suffocated, I sent a letter. But it came back unopened a week later. And when dad started to…he…when he made me handle the girls, I tried everything. I sent letters, texts, called you and Hermione. Though nothing worked,” Abigail’s eyes became wet, “I started to pray you’d find me.”

Abigail untangled her hand. Her lips trembled and her shoulders heaved with emotion.

Her dark lashes brimmed heavy with tears; her hands shook as she re-intertwined their fingers, as though it would ground her.

A lone tear traced down her cheek.

She wept, tears streaming from her deep blue eyes while loud, heaving sobs tore from her throat, and Harri could not look away. Her own throat felt so raw with all of the emotions going on.

“Someone took,” Abigail heaved, “Someone took Mel. Someone-.”

Harri flinched as Abigail cried into her knuckles. Her hands shook terribly but Harri grabbed Abigail’s hand and lowered it.

No matter how many tears had already been shed or how much pain she had to endure alone, Harri was here now - to help Abigail. And that meant that she wouldn’t have to muffle her crying.

Harri nonverbally cast out Muffliato and a locking spell to keep any nurse from barging in.

“They’re gonna find out,” she trembled into Harri’s arms. “I had to help _him._ They’re gonna lock me up. No one’s going to listen to me.”

“No,” Harri said. She wouldn’t allow it.

“Dr Lecter called that day. He probably knew. And Mr Graham…he’ll find out. He’ll find out and I’ll be gone.”

“No one is going to find out, Abigail. I won’t let them.”

“But Mr Graham will! He knows things!”

“I won’t let them. I’ll erase any evidence -.”

“He’s magic, Harri,” Abigail cried out. “He can go inside people’s heads!”

Harri sharply breathed out. If another wizard was involved, then things got a whole lot complicated. But that didn’t mean it would be impossible to handle things.

“I’ll take care of it,” Harri promised. She leaned up to press her forehead against Abigail’s. “We’ll figure things out.”

Abigail gave a watery sniffle and, very slowly, looked at Harri’s resolved face.

“Okay.”

Harri’s lips quirked up in a smile. They carefully manoeuvred around the bed so they were properly laying down.

“You should get some sleep.”

Abigail buried her head into Harri’s middle.

“I can’t,” her tiny voice said.

Harri sighed and thought back to when everything had been new to her as well. The nights she stayed awake, too wound up to be sleep.

She stared at the blank ceiling. There were words on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t find something to settle on.

“Did -,” Harri flinched at her voice sounding so loud and high. She swallowed and softened her voice. “You know, the money that I won for the tournament, do you remember how I gave it to Fred and George? When I getting ready my sixth year, we took a trip to Diagon Alley, right before classes started. It turned out that they had opened up a joke shop…”

Harri thought back to all of it. She kept one hand wrapped around Abigail’s shoulders and kept talking. She went over the new inventions and how every third gallon was donated to Saint Mungo’s hospital. Abigail shifted her head so she could stare at Harri as she spoke.

Abigail’s eyes looked less tired and she sported a timid smile.

“Pygmy Puffs sound adorable.”

“They are. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who took them to Hogwarts. They had to edit the list of animals allowed to come on board.”

Harri laughed as she recalled some of the better points in her sixth year.

“Professor Sprout ended up setting a section in the greenhouse for them to roam.”

She sighed softly. Her fingers trailed up Abigail’s arm lazily.

Her hand froze as Abigail’s stomach gave off a loud growl. Harri looked over to the side where there was a tray containing white rice and soup.

“How about some McDonalds?”

Abigail pulled back and looked quite unsure.

“I’ll make sure no one sees you. Plus, some fresh air would do you some good.”

Abigail blinked slowly and gave a not-so-subtle look at the rising sun.

“There’s a lot of 24/7 fast food chains open here.”

Abigail still looked sceptical and even opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it when her stomach growled again. As soon as she slipped on some shoes and a jacket over her shirt, Harri tapped on Abigail’s head with her wand.

A full shudder overwhelmed Abigail. She grabbed Harri’s hands with her cold ones.

“There’s one a bit far from here,” she said unsurely. “I only ate there once with Dr Bloom.”

Harri pulled Abigail flush against her, “Just focus on what it looked like.”

Abigail’s face reddened at the closeness between them but did as Harri asked.

They both apparated. The scenery immediately shifted from the room to an inside of a restaurant’s bathroom.

Abigail stumbled back, her face pale and her hands shaky. She slid to the floor as she felt motion sickness overcome her. She shoved her head in between her knees and breathed out harshly.

Harri winced and pulled out a water bottle from inside the purse. Abigail accepted it and she took a tiny sip. Once she felt more stable, she lifted her head and looked at Harri. It wasn’t that soft-sweet look on her face she normally had but rather one that begged the question why Harri hadn’t warned her of the atrocious way their transport was going to be.

Harri tried to smile apologetically but Abigail’s eyes just glared coolly at her. Together, they exited the bathroom and while Abigail sat down at a booth, Harri made a beeline for the counter.

She ordered several burger meals and hot chocolate.

Once she paid with her Potter card, she went over to Abigail. She silently set up another Muffliato.

They said nothing for a bit and then Abigail spoke up.

“Do you remember, when mom snuck us out to get some Mickey D after Dudley ruined all the barbeque by that garlic?”

Harri leaned back and nodded.

“First time I saw anyone glare at him and get away with it.”

Abigail laughed, “Oh! Mom couldn’t get rid of the smell from the grill. Even till now.”

Her smile slowly slid off and she sighed. Abigail looked down at her nails and forced on a smile.

“I think that was the first time I saw you eat properly.”

Harri placed her hand on the table, nearly in the middle. Just in case Abigail needed it.

“You know, it was the first time I drank Pepsi?”

“No!”

“Oh yes. I nearly bounced off the walls with that amount of sugar in me.”

Abigail’s smile melted into a more natural one.

“And! When in England, I tried it again but the drinks over here, mate, they’re something else.”

“I heard that the sizing is all different as well.”

“Everything is so small,” Harri’s eyes flew open and she nodded solemnly. “I switched over to Burger King because of the Big Whooper.”

Abigail hissed sympathetically.

“I like it better than McDonald's.”

“You did not say that,” Abigail asked. “What about customer loyalty?”

Harri shrugged, “Burger King is actually fresher in a way.”

Abigail gave Harri a look. But Harri just grinned with relief flooding her. Abigail had shed some of the strained pain within her face.

Harri relaxed in her seat, as the conversation flowed between them. They went over their favourite memories and the experiences they had gotten together.

Harri got up to get their take away. Balancing the food in one hand, she pushed the door open. All the while Abigail stood behind her.

“Are you sure I can’t help with the food?”

“As soon as we’re not surrounded by people you can help. You being invisible and holding food is gonna attract attention if we do it otherwise,” Harri walked in an awkward posture. Her arms wrapped around the food like it was a baby having a tantrum and she moved quickly as to not drop it.

Abigail winced as they items in Harri’s hands began to wobble. Just as the drinks sloshed about to the worrying top, Abigail grabbed them.

Harri sighed relief as they appeared in front of the psychiatric facility. When she stopped Abigail from going back to her room, Abigail just looked at Harri in confusion.

“Are you serious,” Abigail hissed as they climbed the side of the wall. Harri swung her legs up the side and pushed her body on top of the roof. She grabbed the drinks from Abigail.

“Where’s your sense of adventure,” Harri’s face peered over Abigail’s as she gave an arm to Abigail. The birds began their daily song as the dewdrops shone over them.

Abigail grabbed the arm breathlessly. Harri’s rosy cheeks and bright eyes were a sight. Abigail went limp as Harri pulled her up causing her to fall over Harri. Her face landed right next to Harri’s.

“We seem to be doing this a lot,” Abigail said shyly.

A red enveloped Harri’s face and she scrambled back. Her eyes fleeted about everywhere except Abigail’s face making her sigh softly.

Abigail grabbed the bag and started to unwrap the food. Together, they had an early breakfast. Yet neither one of them was focused on the food.

How could they, when their knees touched while they sat side by side?

-

Harri lay on the floor, thinking over what Abigail had unloaded onto her. Images raced behind her shut eyes. She got up to look over where Abigail who was fast asleep with the dreamless potion at work. Her body was curled over a white-cased pillow.

Harri had given her a half-dosage with a clear warning to not use it again for the next week. Developing a dependency on the potion was far harmful to her mental health than having to deal with it all alone. Which Abigail wasn’t. But it didn’t hurt to give all the details to her beforehand.

Harri started to pace back and forth the room. The train station would be fairly easy to handle. The university would be slightly more difficult but still workable. It was the interaction with the FBI that would be the hardest. Spells could remove Abigail as a suspect but they would always have their guts to rethink her as one.

Her bare feet bore a hole in the floor with her pacing. Her mind was a temperamental ocean of information that wasn’t ready to calm down yet.

Abigail was right here. She was in the same room as Harri. Not dead, just asleep.

Harri went back to Abigail’s side once again. It was surreal. Abigail shouldn’t look like this, shouldn’t have had to gone through what she did. And with them being separated, Harri didn’t even want to leave Abigail. Not even for a second. But she had to.

Harri pulled out a few clothing items she always had with her in case of an emergency. She glanced about the room to find a corner she could change in. The warmth of the sun shone through the covered window. It gave a muted yellow glow to one-third of the room.

Harri stuck to the shadows and took off her sweaty clothes. She swapped them for a simple black shirt and a tartan skirt. Her hair was pushed back into a ponytail with one of Abigail’s scrunchies.

Once she was fitted for the day, she dropped her necklace on Abigail’s side table, on top of a blue book.

For Abigail to have a solid piece as proof that Harri was here now.

With a plan in mind, Harri slipped out of the room silently. She held her shoes in one hand while her wand was in another. It wasn’t ideal – having to go after the security tapes in the day. But she needed to get her hands on them before they revealed anything about Abigail or her father.

She came to a stop far enough out from the haven yet close enough to watch the building. Her grainy feet slid into the heels.

Harri apparated out of the driveway and into the busy street full of the bustling train station. Her entrance was quiet, the tell-tale of an apparition silent. Harri slinked about in the crowds. She pushed herself flat against one of the arches, to keep herself from bumping into anyone whilst being invisible.

Her worried gaze bounced off several people until she found the washed-out blue uniform colour.

She followed the security guards that seemed to have just had a break. After all, one of the guys had the smell of burrito clinging to him as though he had wrestled with it.

Harri shook her head - she had just eaten. She ignored her stomach grumble at the delicious smell as she shot two quick Confundus. She snatched up his keys, duplicated them, and slipped the original back on his belt.

With the keys in her hands, Harri made her way to the station’s surveillance room. The door gave a little creek as she slowly opened it but as she slid in, the guard on duty didn’t notice anything odd about the door.

Harri silently worked her way to the computers and she shot him with another spell. He got up and left the room in a hurry.

Harri abandoned the slow technique she was using and quickly sat in his chair. The leather squeaked under her weight. Harri’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she got into the memory.

“September,” she muttered to herself as she accessed the files. She sped up the video and took in all the different camera angles. In the middle right camera, Harri spotted Abigail and her dad get their tickets. She zoomed in and followed their path in and out of the several cameras. Not once did they show their ticket and thus the seat number.

Harri quickly typed and changed up the seating pattern. If Abigail had helped, then she would have sat next to or near the victims to be of use. And disrupting that would mean that at least Abigail would have some sort of coverage.

Harri pushed the fast forward button. If there were eight victims like David the cabbie had said, then there would be eight days where Abigail used the train. Harri placed her wand to the screen and focused.

Her hand trembled as her breathing got worse. A bead of sweat gathered up at her forehead as she pressed against the force. Within seconds, Abigail melted away from the cameras, completely disappearing in the video.

Behind her, the door handle let out a creak as someone pressed the key. Harri shot a spell at the handle, quickly exiting out of the servers.

“The door’s stuck,” one of the guards said.

“Let me try,” another voice spoke. The grunts of them trying to unlock the door were muffled through the thickness of it.

Harri’s hands were slippery inside the gloves. She clicked at a few more commands. Her eyes scanned the information and she exited the page. She shot up from the chair and rushed to the door. Their sounds had ended and so when she uttered the spell at the lock, she wasn’t expecting the handle to turn in her hand.

Harri pushed herself to the wall with a gasp. She shoved a hand against her mouth as her heart pounded. The two guards walked in.

“Where’s Dick?”

“Probably to the bathroom,” the second threw a pointed look at the drink containers crammed into the bin.

“He does have a tiny bladder,” the first guard snickered. “But why wasn’t the door opening?”

“Duffus crammed a card inside the lock,” he pulled out a thick card. Harri noted the doctorates on the piece of paper but she couldn’t focus on it. Not with the fear that they’d turn around and her spell would end, exposing her. “He probably lost his key again.”

The guards moved towards the chair and Harri grabbed the door that was closing. She slid out of there as fast as she could. Her feet ached as the heel dug into the heel of her foot as she ran out. Her heels gave click-clacks but in the near-empty hall, they sounded like a leaky tap.

Harri slipped and hit her elbow against a bench. A cold pain enveloped her arm making her let out a hurt sound. Her sweaty-gloved hand cradled her elbow as she tried to calm her racing heart.

She shut her eyes and appeared next to Death who was in his human form, overlooking a contract.

“Right on time,” he said. He lifted a page to look at the information on the next page. His head raised when Harri didn’t say anything. She was far too busy gasping for breath.

“How was your rendezvous at the station?”

“You knew,” she choked out, her voice still breathy from the adrenaline.

He shot her a deadpan look like she had said the Earth was flat. Harri flushed with irritation colouring her features.

“Of course. Or did you forget that I pay attention to you?”

Harri heaved herself next to Death on the high-stools. The sound of the stools being dragged back resonated throughout the empty diner. He pushed the contract towards her and picked up his coffee.

Her hands trembled with exhaustion as they picked up the freshly printed contract.

“It’s close to the psychiatric home without being too close and has a good connection to the urban area.”

“How much space?”

“2.75 acres of a backyard.”

Harri rolled her eyes. Of course, Death would focus on the space that he could roam in as his forms.

“Plus there’s a pool,” he sweetly added.

She read through the contract. The paper crinkled as she flipped through it, taking her time to understand what it entailed.

Harri glanced up, taking in the sight of Death holding out a pen for Harri to sign on. She sighed like she couldn’t believe she was entertaining the thought Death was having.

“There you go,” she pushed the papers back to him.

He placed his coffee down and pressed his fingers together in the cliché villain pose. A crazed smile appeared on his lips, making him look far much more sinister than he did.

**_I’m steepling my hand, you Ninnyhammer._ **

Harri punched his shoulder and swiped his coffee while he rubbed the sore spot. She took a mouthful of the dark liquid.

Her lips curled up at the taste of sugarless caffeine. She gagged and let the liquid fall back into the cup. She shoved the coffee mug back on the counter roughly.

Death pushed the cup away from him. He shot her a look, seriously contemplating if he really wanted her to live.

“You’re stuck with me bub,” Harri snatched his half-eaten muffin next.

“Clearly something’s going to have to give,” he muttered.

She smiled, the half-chewed food in her mouth full-on display.

Death scowled and just plucked up the contract with his dainty fingers.

“Don’t you have something to do? Kiss babies or better yet your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Harri said.

“Huh. Why not,” Death asked but his eye roll showed how he uninterested he was.

He threw a few bills on the counter and slipped his jacket on. Harri followed him out the door and shrugged.

“We just never got any time, y’know,” Harri said wistfully. “There were times where we thought that ‘This is it.’ but then something always came up.”

She put her thumbs inside the belt and shrugged.

The summer after her fourth year was when they met each other. Back then, it was a miracle they became friendly with what Harri was dealing with. And then the next year…well, it was pretty self-explanatory that Harri could barely deal with a rapport and it developing into something much more wouldn’t have worked. She hadn’t been there after then. And now, well, Abigail needed a friend rather than a girlfriend.

Seemed like it would never be the time for them. Harri kicked a pebble on the ground further down the road.

They crossed the road together, walking towards a building whose name escaped Harri’s notice.

Death pushed the papers in her arms and herded her inside. In front of her, a receptionist stood behind the high desk.

“How may I help you?”

**_Tell her you’re here for Brady Crane._ **

Harri repeated what Death said. And when the receptionist prodded gently for more information, Death continued to order Harri to say things.

She was escorted down the hall which was painted a bright sapphire blue. Harri noted the large windows covering one side of the wall and the black hanging lights above each desk. There were about four desks, laid out next to the windows. In the far right was a door, which, through the glass, Harri could guess was the room with all the papers.

A few heads turned up when Harri walked in behind the receptionist. She pulled back a chair for Harri in front of a blonde male who seemed to have had a few too many beers in his youth.

“Mr Crane,” Harri smiled politely. She didn’t know the man, but as Death grumbled in her ear, she got a pretty good idea of him.

“Miss Potter,” he leaned over and shook her hand. His sweaty palm encased hers and he realized it a few seconds too late. “Sorry.”

Harri waved it off.

“So the papers,” he asked after he sheepishly laughed.

Harri handed them to him. He flipped through the pages, taking note of all the signatures. He nodded along slowly and stopped at the end from where he pulled out a bank statement.

“One second,” he asked of Harri, starting his computer. He quickly logged in and opened up the account which the money was transferred to. He took a few moments to make sure everything was legitimized.

He hummed, his eyes scanning the information. Once done, he exited the browser and put the bank statement back in its place.

“Here you go, Miss Potter,” Crane handed her a key set. “It’s for the locks on the doors.”

The muddied silver keys felt cool in her hands. She pressed her thumb against the ridges before slipping them into her pocket.

“Thank you,” she stood up.

“My pleasure,” he nodded his head. This time, he didn’t offer his hand and, she just got up and left the store.

_Is it always this short?_

**_Quite opposite. It takes weeks to find a suitable house and many days to pay the money. Most people end up paying in instalments instead of paying upfront like we just did._ **

**_H_ ** _uh._

**_I may have also made him think that we’ve been corresponding for a while now._ **

Death bumped her side as he walked by her side. He grabbed her hand, pulling her to a stop.

She sighed and waved for a cab when he didn’t make any movement to transport them to the ‘dream’ house.

The seat felt heavenly as she slid inside and repeated the address Death had said. Her head rested against the soft seat. Harri’s eyes fluttered shut from the exhaustion of what a day it had been. It had been busy, busy, busy. All from touching down to Minnesota, to finding out about Abigail, about the mess she had found herself in it and to trying to detangle the threads that led back to Abigail.

But she’d do it all again. For Abigail.

She paid her fare and got out in front of a flat-roofed house. Harri cast a doubtful look over the two-story building.

Death slung his arm over her shoulders and pushed them towards the house. Behind them, the cab pulled out of the driveway and went on its merry way.

Hands freezing, Death put them inside Harri’s pockets – ignoring her yelp – and retrieved the keys.

He pushed it into the padlock and the metallic piece was unlatched. Death swung the door open and walked in.

He turned back to Harri, who was standing in front of the stairs and pulled her in with him.

Their shoes made tip-taps on the wooden flooring. Harri glanced at the floor and noted the beautiful pale wooden flooring.

To their immediate left was a small-framed door. Harri broke off from Death’s grip and opened the door. She noted the tiled floor and its tiny spacing. It was probably a bathroom then. On the opposite side was an open room, one that lacked any doors and had a fireplace on the south wall.

“This will be the salon,” Death walked in. He waved a hand over to the ceiling, “There will be a pendant light hanging from here. And there’ll be a beautiful rug here.”

Harri crossed her arms and smiled softly at the look of anticipation on Death’s face. She leaned against the bare white wall.

“We can have a mirror here, to reflect the light from outside in.”

He moved through the entire ground floor. Harri remained quiet, letting Death’s words wash over her. He dragged her around, marking all the ways the room would be used.

“We’ll add another floor.”

Harri’s eyebrows rose and she tilted her head. She couldn’t have heard correctly. Had she?

“For all the magic-related items; books, potions, and magical plants. Or did you think you’d leave them on display for any muggle to stumble upon?”

Harri felt heat creep up on her face, “I didn’t think anyone other than Abigail would be here.”

“What about her guardians?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, Dr Lector and Mr Graham? The ones that are shouldering Abigail’s fee for the Port Haven psychiatric facility?”

“She…uh…didn’t mention that.”

Death huffed and muttered something like ‘Figures’.

Harri let out a yawn before walking over to Death. She draped herself against his side.

“So, you wanna take care of the paint and furniture first or build that extra floor with magic?”

“I’m going shopping,” he said. “You can take care of the floor.”

Harri smiled into his collarbone and pressed a grateful kiss there.

“Don’t go out all black, you hear me?”

“Black, grey and white,” he promised.

Harri lifted her head and stared at Death’s strikingly white complexion. He stared back before softening.

“Go work. It’s going to take time to get everything done and you have someone waiting for you elsewhere.”

He swiped her credit card as he pulled away. He tipped two fingers in a salute, moving towards the exit. Harri shut her eyes and listened to his footsteps as he walked down the stairs and out the door.

She swayed slightly in the silent empty house. Her eyes twitched open and she let out a deep sigh. Harri rolled up her sleeves.

She had work to do.

Harri exited the house, the cold grass crunching underneath her heels, and stood in the driveway with her wand by her side. She let out a controlled breath before swishing the wand in a cursive, looped L. She bought the wand slowly across to the left.

She raised her wand fluidly in a reverse ‘v’. In front of her eyes, she watched as the house seemed to expand horizontally. She thrust the tip of her wand into the empty air, dragging it upwards; pushing past the invisible, thick fluid difficultly and the height of the house increased. It was just a meter or two, but the exhaustion she felt made it seem like it was so much more. Her arm trembled with effort but she pressed onwards. Her wand slippery in her hands and she gripped it even tighter. It was harrowing – the process of placing a pale flooring so it lay down amid the grey flat roofs. She didn’t know how long she stood there, in the cold air, with her feet in pain as she did her best to create a new room. The pressure in her finger joints became too much for her and she ended her spell.

Her back quivered. A roof was fitted over the newly added flooring, disappearing from sight due to Death’s essence. Harri stumbled forward. Her head spun with the lack of sleep catching up to her. She let out a shaky breath, immediately feeling faint.

Harri tripped past the entrance door and peeled her heels off. Her aching feet cried in relief and she sat on the foundation of the stairs. She sagged backwards. After a moment of catching her breath, she pulled a plastic container out of her bag still wrapped against her body. Wafts of delicious baked goods emitted from the lid she cracked open.

Her sweaty hand wrapped around the sausage roll. Silently, Harri ate the food and rested. She noted the wooden top and the shade of white the rest of the stairs were. The black metallic railings felt quite hard in her hands.

Once she felt confident she could work onwards, Harri moved up a floor before taking a stance two feet away from the space that would become the stairs to the roof. She gazed at the empty floor underneath the flooring of the sky parlour and wondered how the drop would feel.

Harri shook her head and focused on making the stairs.

An hour later, Harri stood in the attic. She gazed at the thick white walls and her shoulders fell forward.

It wasn’t like what she imagined it to be.

She retrieved her wand from her pocket and began to cut out two rectangular chunks from the top on each slanted wall. In the end, the breached walls elevated the place with the natural light flooding in.

Harri walked over to one end of the room and lifted her red-tipped wand and cut out a circle.

_Another window._

She slowly walked around and thought of what could go there. A blue-grey couch that had a hint of green. Even better, an L shaped couch and a wooden table in the shade of the wooden beams that ran across the roof of the hallway where the stairs were.

And several footrests!

Harri tilted her head and stared at the opposite wall of the room. Which surprisingly looked like a pretty nice for a built-in bookshelf. Here vision bled into another. Abigail laying on the couch with her head on Harri’s lap as she read the books aloud. Harri breathed in sharply and rubbed her eyes.

She shouldn’t let her mind runoff.

_What were the runes to hide the room?_

After a moment, Death replied and guided her through the process of carving them into the first stair of up to the attic. As usual, the process was time-consuming and Harri spent Merlin knows how long kneeling on the floor.

In front of her eyes, the stairs disappeared from sight, one at a time. Harri blinked and she was staring at a bare wall. She pressed a hand at the cool wall. It was solid under her hand.

She focused on the attic and when she reopened her eyes, the stairs were right there. Like they had always been there.

Harri smiled to herself, proud of being able to do something.

**_I got a call from the paint store. They’ll be delivering the paint in two minutes._ **

_Alright. Do I need to pay them?_

**_I took care of it. Just remember to sign your name on the delivery papers._ **

_Alright._

True to Death’s words, Harri heard the truck pull up the driveway in two minutes. She slid her feet back into her heels, walked up to the door, swung it open before anyone could knock, and smiled politely at the acne-ridden teenage girl standing on the porch with a clipboard.

“Miss Potter?”

“Yes,” Harri said.

“If you could sign on this please,” she handed over the clipboard that held a very general paper stating that the customer had gotten their item. Harri signed it with the pen on top of the clipboard and handed it back.

“Should we drop the paint off in the garage or in one of the rooms of the house?”

“The garage is fine,” Harri said as she walked out and pushed up the garage’s metallic door-wall.

The teenager dropped off several cans of paint and went on her merry way, leaving Harri alone to look at the cans and hope Death hadn’t gone out all Black and Blood Red.

She cracked open the lids one by one.

Light Grey, Greyish Black, and Full out Black.

_Colour me impressed. I thought you’d have still gone all black._

**_Yeah, well, at least this way we can both get the look we want._ **

Harri snorted and began to pour the paint grey paint in a large empty bucket she found in the corner of the garage.

_What have you bought so far?_

**_I’m actually still in the car. I’m heading out of town to find some better furniture._ **

Harri paused her search for any painting tools.

_You do you. But just know that I won’t be doing all of this by myself._

Death just shrugged in response.

Harri pulled out a painting kit that seemed like it was recently bought – there was no dust on it and it was still in its plastic container. She dragged up the bucket of grey paint and a can of black paint up to the room Death had dubbed as the ‘formal salon’.

**_Both depressed walls around the fireplace._ **

_You got it._

She dipped the roller into the paint and rolled it twice on the paint tray.

**_Pour some paint inside on the tray so its consistency is normal._ **

Harri’s ears burned and she did as he instructed.

Slowly, Harri coated the wall with one layer of black paint. With the help of her magic, Harri sped up the drying process and painted it twice more.

She dragged the paint outside, and into the other rooms and began her long and silent adventure of making this house into her home.

Painting done, she started to unpack her books after calling Kreacher to transfer her things. She took to the attic as her first project. Her books were placed in her shelves in order of difficulty of subject, magical usage and colour scheme.

Kreacher popped by a few times with a few potted plants. Most of them were of Magical Origin and with a suggestive eyebrow raise, Harri could only guess they were of carnivorous origin as well.

Once she had nothing else to do inside the house - that is without Death’s permission - Harri took her exit through the backdoor.

She shivered as she slowly walked under the roof of the patio to stare at the swimming pool. She pulled her skirt up, sat down by the end and leaned back to dip her feet in the glaringly obviously clean water of the swimming. Her feet cracked the thinnest layer of frost and ice she had ever seen and she submerged them.

The cold was a shock, but it wasn’t an unwelcome one. She felt all her tiredness and sleep fly away and a lull take over.

Harri sighed softly. Her eyes drifted across the backyard lazily. The amount of space now available to her was absurd. She shook again as the breeze picked up. Non-verbally, she shot a heating spell on herself to keep herself from actually getting a cold.

Harri tried to imagine a space cut out for the garden that she’d like to have. But all that she could think of was the herbs she’d want, not the look of the place.

Harri tried to imagine a space cut out for the garden that she’d like to have. But all that she could think of was the herbs she’d want, not the look of the place.

Instead, images of Abigail standing by her side conjured up. Harri could see it all too clearly now. The plants all around them thriving as Abigail watering the plants in her ridiculous yellow watering pot. Harri could almost feel the summer breeze and the pleasant heat of the sun.

How Harri could screen Abigail from the worst of the sun’s rays while Abigail joked about with the shadows of a baseball cap on her head; just big enough to make her blue eyes pop out in the shade.

Harri smiled, not unlike when looking at a particularly warm shade of yellow that bought about feelings of hospitality and cosiness.

Abigail would probably want to have all sorts of fruit-bearing trees. If not just to attract all sorts of birds. And little birdhouses all over the place for them to rest.

She could easily picture the changes Abigail would bring. And for the first time in a long time, Harri would be by her side while that happened.


End file.
